History attests that religious people tend to be narrow. Instead of expanding our capacity for life, joy and mystery, religion often contracts it. As systematic theology advances, the sense of wonder declines. The paradoxes, contradictions, and ambiguities of life are codified, and God Himself is cribbed, cabined and confined within the pages of a leather bound book. Instead of a love story, the Bible is viewed as a detailed manual of directions.

-Brennan Manning from Abba’s Child

I don’t want to conquer mystery, I want to celebrate it…The true orthodox faith is deeply mysterious, and every question that’s answered leads to a new set of questions.

-Rob Bell, interview in Leadership magazine.